Picking
admin
As We Fish and Farm

I came to Newfoundland for the first time just over four years ago. I can still vividly recall taking the ferry across from Nova Scotia in the late winter, listening to the groaning sounds of the ice around the boat. Within two months of arriving I made my first trip to Bonne Bay, a remote fjord on the west coast of the island. I went to learn about the food system and fisheries in the region as part of a PhD program I was beginning at Memorial University that fall.

As We Fish and Farm
Picking, Preparing
admin
DIY Maple Syrup

Maple syrup conjures up images of towering arboretums in places like Quebec or Vermont, but it’s a little known secret that the rugged and hardy maple trees of Newfoundland make darn fine maple syrup. With nothing more than a half dozen maple trees, some old salt beef containers and a handful of 25 cent metal tree taps, you’re good to go and can expect to end up with over a dozen bottles of hand made maple syrup.

DIY Maple Syrup
Picking, Planting, Preparing
Andreae C
My front yard grocery store
My front yard grocery store
Events, Picking, Planting
Costa Kasimos
Bits and Pieces: Along the Shore

Spectacular vistas, whales breaching, ice bergs floating by, and a foragers paradise. We are blessed with many wilderness areas that offer abundant edible plants. I rarely go on a hike without stopping to have a little taste of this or that. In this post, I will touch upon some of the edibles currently available in our wonderful wilderness.

Bits and Pieces: Along the Shore
Planting
Matthew Middleton
Growing In A Potato Box

Thanks to the listing from Seeds of Diversity, I was able to locate a gentleman in Newfoundland who has a great deal of experience growing a wide variety of potatoes here. Last week, I recieved by my set of samples from George, and here's what my benefactor told me about the varieties:

Red Dutch: A very dry, yellow flesh red from Holland in the 1940’s. An excellent potato. Late maturing.

Northern White: A white flesh variety, from Quebec apparently, from the early 1900’s. Very high yield. Good taste.

Growing In A Potato Box

food insecurity

Assist People Isolated and in Danger of Food Insecurity Following Hurricane Igor

Residents of several communities around Trinity Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada are isolated and in danger of food insecurity in the aftermath of Hurricane Igor. Some of these communities were already vulnerable prior to the Hurricane and now with blocked transportation routes and no power, the situation is worsened greatly. Power may not be restored to some for 8-9 days and transportation infrastructure will take even longer to return to normal standards. In the meantime people need access to reliable, healthy, safe, and adequate food to keep them food secure.

Clarenville and Areas Cons. Co-op has brought together volunteers to reach these communities with food and other supplies by boat. Government and military are working to assess the damage and assist the area, and in the meantime Kevin Jacobs, manager of the Co-op, and his team of volunteers are making deliveries of donations.  So far they have visited, or plan to visit soon, people in Southwest Arm, Hodge’s Cove, Bonaventure, Trouty, Little Heart’s Ease, Random Island, Weybridge, Hickman’s Harbour, and Petley, among others. Boat owners are donating their time and the Co-op is supplying food. Kevin Jacobs says that “the generosity of Newfoundland and Labradorians and across Canada is unbelievable. We’re hitting little pockets of people by boats and little by little we’re going to get to them all”.

Your help assisting these efforts would be hugely appreciated. You can call the Clarenville Co-op to make a donation by credit card at (709)466-2622. Cheques are also welcome made out to the Clarenville Co-op, 238 Memorial Drive, Clarenville, NL, A5A 1N9 and please call before mailing them to let the Co-op know you’re making a donation.

If you have information about similar efforts in other regions of the province, please contact FSN and we will post those as well. Please distribute this posting widely if you are able to.

For more information about the food security situation in Newfoundland and Labrador contact FSN at info@foodsecuritynews.com , (709)237-4126 and www.foodsecuritynews.com